headsman

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of headsman Two other men, subjects of excellent Holbein drawings in the show, would keep appointments with the headsman. Peter Schjeldahl, The New Yorker, 21 Feb. 2022 Even if your reality is the headsman’s block! Helen Shaw, Vulture, 4 Oct. 2021 Once upon a time, the queen could have sent rebels to the Tower and the headsman’s block, even relatives—especially relatives. Matt Seaton, The New York Review of Books, 9 Mar. 2021 The British prime minister has assembled a trio of headsmen to sever Britain from the mainland. Vanityfair.com, VanityFair.com, 22 Mar. 2017 Several other leading figures of the period ended their days on the executioner’s block, including the unhappy Comte de Chalais, whose headsman bungled the job and ended up frantically chopping away at his screaming victim with a small hatchet. David A. Bell, Foreign Affairs, 1 Mar. 2012
Recent Examples of Synonyms for headsman
Noun
  • At least that is what the executioners have always claimed.
    Ashlee Conour, Chicago Tribune, 2 Sep. 2025
  • The regime executed 975 people last year—making Iran the world's top per capita executioner.
    Tom Ridge, MSNBC Newsweek, 21 July 2025
Noun
  • The nursery consists of coral fragments that dangle from hangman structures that the Coral Restoration Foundation put 30 feet under the surface.
    Ashley Miznazi, Miami Herald, 17 Aug. 2025
  • The death penalty has just been abolished in the United Kingdom, and all the townspeople in Oldham want to know what the second-best hangman in the country has to say about it.
    Luann Gibbs, The Enquirer, 2 July 2025
Noun
  • In 2022, Epstein’s executors also agreed to pay $105 million to settle a civil case brought by the USVI’s attorney general.
    Julie K. Brown, Miami Herald, 5 Sep. 2025
  • Jaafar Jackson, Michael Jackson’s nephew, stars in the film as the singer, and the film is co-produced by John Branca and John McClain, co-executors of the Jackson estate.
    Conor Murray, Forbes.com, 3 Sep. 2025
Noun
  • Quadruple murderer Bryan Kohberger claimed in court documents that he was diagnosed with four mental health disorders in the months leading up to his guilty plea in the killings of four University of Idaho students.
    Stephen Sorace, FOXNews.com, 5 Sep. 2025
  • There is nothing here that indicates, as the late Professor Harbage has well said, that in order to be king hereafter Macbeth must be murderer first.
    Emily Zarevich, JSTOR Daily, 3 Sep. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Headsman.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/headsman. Accessed 11 Sep. 2025.

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